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About this quote

What does it mean?
Confidence combined with ignorance can lead to success, implying attitude matters more than knowledge.
In plain terms
Being confident, even if uninformed, can bring success.
What can you take from it?
Cultivate confidence, but be aware of its limits.

Where it applies

  • entrepreneurship
  • new ventures

Putting it to work

  • confidence building
  • learning on the job

Questions to consider

  • When is confidence without knowledge dangerous?
  • How can you balance confidence with learning?

Another view

Ignorance can cause costly mistakes despite confidence.

More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  1. There is something worse than ignorance, and that's knowing what ain't so.

    Permalink to quote #163
  2. America is built on a tilt and everything loose slides to California.

    Permalink to quote #165
  3. What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.

    Permalink to quote #162

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